Job applicants also must sign an affidavit stating, under penalty of perjury, that they have not used tobacco within one-year of employment.

“It’s the same thing as drug use,” Mayer said. “We have a drug-free policy where everyone is tested for drug use before they come on board, and if they start using afterwards we won’t know until either a random test or a workers compensation incident.”

Mayer said the county has no desire to be the “tobacco police” but testing positive for nicotine after being hired could result in termination.

Critics of so-called tobacco lifestyle bans often cite discrimination and privacy violations. But federal law does not provide tobacco users equal protection, and Florida state law does not protect off-work tobacco use.

Other local governments have enacted similar laws, and Florida hospitals have done the same. In 1995, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that public employees have no expectation of privacy when it comes to tobacco use.

Flagler’s 635 current employees are exempt from the new tobacco policy ,which was unanimously passed by the Flagler County Board of County Commissioners on Aug. 19.

When asked if the new tobacco ban would apply to the county commissioners, Mayer responded in an email, “As such, the policy does not apply to our County Commission or those individuals who may run for office in the future.”